House of Guinness: Is Sean Rafferty Based on a Real Person?

Netflix’s ‘House of Guinness’ follows the turbulence in the eponymous family when its patriarch dies and leaves all four of his children in a bind that dissatisfies them all. While Arthur and Edward get the majority of the fortune, including the entirety of the business, nothing much is left for Anne and Ben. The desire to take their business to new heights leads Edward, backed by a reluctant but dedicated Arthur, to make some unorthodox decisions. However, despite their position as the leaders of the family, they cannot achieve anything without the support of Sean Rafferty. He remains an important and indispensable figure for the Guinnesses. Interestingly, one of the more fascinating characters of the show is also entirely fictional. SPOILERS AHEAD.

The Fictional Sean Rafferty is an Amalgamation of Several Guinness Employees

‘House of Guinness’ takes real historical figures and facts, giving them a twist of fiction to render a heavily dramatised tale. In doing so, the show’s creators have concocted several characters out of their imagination, and Sean Rafferty is one of them. He is not based on any real person but is an amalgamation of several people who worked for the Guinness family to clear the way, clean up their messes, and strengthen their position in society. The role of fixers and hired hands to do the dirty work of wealthy people is not a foreign or new idea. Considering the politically charged climate of the time and the fact that the Guinness family had stakes in Arthur’s political career, it makes sense that they would have needed someone to keep things in check for them. However, instead of relying on a single man, there would have been a group of people who took on different tasks for the family.

In the book ‘The Guinnesses: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Most Successful Family,’ Joe Joyce talks about all sorts of people, from gamekeepers, to private secretaries, to private secretaries and retired and active police officers, the family had a lot of people on its payroll to make sure that their reputation remained unblemished and whatever trouble came their way was dealt with swiftly and efficiently. The massive scale of their operation and the millions of dollars at stake would, not surprisingly, require them to keep the people around who could do things like providing security, enforcing their will, digging up dirt on their enemies and competitors, burying their own secrets, cleaning up their image, and getting them out of tricky situations. In the show, the work of all these men is combined, and the responsibility of keeping the Guinness family going is put on the shoulders of Sean Rafferty.

James Norton Tapped Into Sean Rafferty’s Complex Nature

While writing the story of the Guinness family for the screen, the writers needed a hook that came from outside of the family but remained an integral part of their success and evolution while also stirring up trouble for them. Sean Raffery was invented for this purpose. Actor James Norton, who brings the hunky foreman to life, revealed that there was a lot of conversation about the man’s status in the family. Though he is not a Guinness by name and is technically their employee, he has been involved with the family and the business for more than twenty years.

This makes him an honorary Guinness, and in some ways, he knows more about the business, especially when it comes to handling the workers and any other form of trouble, which means that the power dynamics move back and forth between him and his supposed bosses. While we don’t get to know much about his background in the show, Norton said that it was decided that Rafferty has a military background, which influenced a lot of decisions about his costume. He revealed that there is a hidden medal buckle sewn into his coat, and though it might not be a highly visible detail for the audience, it does help establish the tone for the character, especially for the actor.

Norton, who was reportedly the first choice to play Rafferty, also talked about the layered nature of the role, which was one of the reasons why he was attracted to it. Part of the challenge was the Irish accent, for which the British actor had to work hard. Because Irish identity is such an integral part of the show and its characters, getting the accent right was critical to bringing Rafferty’s grounded nature to light. At the end of the day, what invested Norton into the character was that, despite the hardened exterior and the penchant for violence, Rafferty is a romantic at heart and has moments of vulnerability that give him a realistic touch. This makes him someone that you can root for, no matter what.

Read More: House of Guinness Ending Explained: Does Arthur Die?